Meckering

It will be no surprise to learn there is a Meckering Spring, in other words, an impetus for settlement. Water in WA was precious even before the prospectors in the goldfields learned its value.

Before the scheme went through springs in the Meckering district were guarded jealously. Leases in the area were tied to some spring, rock, watering hole or well.

The first farmers settled near Meckering in 1887, at which time the settlement was known as Beebeering. Two years later the surrounding land was officially declared an agricultural area. The railway reached Meckering in 1892 and the settlement was officially declared a town site, to be known as Meckering, in February 1897. By this time, Meckering had a railway station, three stores, a blacksmith, the hotel, town hall, school, post office and two banks.

One drastic consequence of the 1968 earthquake was that the population of Meckering, already small at 600 people, was diminished even further. Nearly half of the population left, largely due to financial pressures.

In rebuilding the town, consideration was given to shifting it some distance away. The residents, however, did not want Meckering to lose its identity and so the town was rebuilt on a site fronting the highway and only slightly south of the old town. In constructing new buildings it was decided that no brick or masonry structures should be built and no roofing tiles used.NTWA